Information storage and retrieval device

ABSTRACT

A method of providing directed search for a web site address identified via a media channe and a method for creating a directed search database of web sites identified via a media channel. A preferred method of providing directed search for a web site address identified via a media channel comprises creating a database containing one or more web site identifiers associated with the identification of the web site address; permitting a user to search the database by inputting at least one of the web site identifiers; and providing to the user a search response including one or more web site addresses identified via the media channel. A preferred method for creating a directed search database of web sites identified via a media channel comprises providing each of a plurality of information providers access to a secured portion of the database; providing each information provider a plurality of identifier categories; allowing each information provider to store in the secured portion of the database a plurality of identifiers associated with a web site identified via a media channel, wherein each identifier corresponds to an identifier category; and creating a search query with the plurality of identifier categories, wherein a user searches the database by inputting at least one identifier in the search query, and a search result including a web site associated with the input identifier is provided when the search query is executed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.09/746,260 filed on Dec. 22, 2000 and claims the benefit of both U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/171,620 filed on Dec. 23, 1999, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/181,047 filed on Feb. 8, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to Internet searchmethods and, more particularly, to methods of providing directedInternet search for web sites identified via a media channel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] More than 1.5 million new pages of information are created everyday on the Internet, and this figure is still growing. (The ChicagoTribune, Feb. 4, 1999). In essence, Internet users are faced with tryingto access an information network that is conservatively 1000 timeslarger than the largest conventional library. To sort through thisinformation morass, an efficient search engine is indispensable.

[0004] Traditional Internet search engines, such as AltaVista™, performa search by using key words as search parameters. For example, a usermight use “airline” and “tickets” as key words to search for web sitesthat sell airline tickets online. In addition, a new breed of searchengines was developed recently. Exemplified by Ask Jeeves™, these newsearch engines allow users to perform a search by asking a question. Forexample, a user might type in “How do I find cheap airline tickets?” tosearch for web sites that sell discounted airline tickets. The newsearch engines are reportedly more popular than the traditional onesbecause their search format is more natural and easier to use for theaverage user. When a New Yorker Magazine journalist asked Ask Jeeves™how tall he is and the result was a reference to altitude rather thanhis height, however, it is clear that even the best current searchpathway is neither efficient nor sufficient.

[0005] The main problem with most of today's search engines is that theyreturn far too much irrelevant information. At least three factorscontribute to this inefficiency, First, vague or improperly wordedsearches often return unwanted results. In addition, many web sites paythe search engines for the privilege of being listed first in a search.Consequently, the first five to ten search results are often lessrelevant than some of the other web sites listed. Finally, Internetsearch engines categorize web sites according to the content of the websites' meta-tags; but many web sites do not use meta-tags. A meta-tag isa hypertext markup language (HTML) text coding hidden from normal viewand located within a specifically designated portion of the HTML codethat generates the web page. This special HTML text coding is used todesignate key words that are communicated to search engines, allowingthe search engines to determine the relevancy of the respective web sitein response to a particular search query. Thus, web sites withoutmeta-tags or with poorly designed meta-tags are often deemed irrelevantby a search engine.

[0006] Many web site owners advertise their web site addresses in themedia to attempt to reach potential customers. For example, suchadvertisement may be announced over the radio or appear on a billboard.Because of the inefficiency of the current Internet search engines,however, if a potential customer hears or sees the advertisement, but isnot in a position to accurately write down the web site address, thelikelihood of the customer finding the web site advertised is minimal.Frequently, the advertised web address is a phonetic domain name whichoften makes the URL quite difficult to spell. As a result, the interestcaptured by the advertisement is often wasted when the potentialcustomer cannot find the advertiser's web page. Therefore, there is aneed for a directed search that would allow a potential customer tosearch for a desired web site advertiser without relying on propersearch terms, key words or the existence and relevancy of the web site'smeta-tags.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention relates to methods of providing directedInternet search for web sites identified via media channels, whichinclude radio, television, airline video broadcasts, billboards, andprinted publications.

[0008] In accordance with the present invention, a preferred method ofproviding directed search for a web site address identified via a mediachannel comprises creating a database containing one or more web siteidentifiers associated with the identification of the web site address;permitting a user to search the database by inputting at least one ofthe web site identifiers; and providing to the user a search responseincluding one or more web site addresses identified via the mediachannel.

[0009] In another preferred embodiment, a method for creating a directedsearch database of web sites identified via a media channel isdisclosed. The method comprises providing each of a plurality ofinformation providers access to a secured portion of the database;providing each information provider a plurality of identifiercategories; allowing each information provider to store in the securedportion of the database a plurality of identifiers associated with a website identified via a media channel, wherein each identifier correspondsto an identifier category; and creating a search query with theplurality of identifier categories, wherein a user searches the databaseby inputting at least one identifier in the search query, and a searchresult including a web site associated with the input identifier isprovided when the search query is executed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the general schematic of apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a screen display illustrating an example of thepreferred directed-search format of a search query in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012]FIG. 1 illustrates the general schematic of a preferred embodimentof the present invention in the form of a flowchart. At block 10, a website address is identified via a media channel, such as radio,television, airline video broadcast, a billboard, a printed publication,a sporting event, or a news event. The web site address may beidentified in a commercial, an advertisement, a commentary, a product orservice evaluation, an interview or any other forms of mediainformation. At block 20, a user is exposed to the media channel andbecomes aware of the web site address identified via the media channel.As block 30 shows, however, the user is unable to recall the web siteaddress at a later time. This is often caused by the fact that the useris generally not in a position to accurately write down. the web siteaddress when it is identified via the media channel. For example, theuser may be driving, without a writing instrument and paper, orotherwise distracted when the web site address is broadcast over theradio, the television, or advertised on a billboard. Additionally, thespelling of the web site name or address is often clever but notnecessarily intuitive to the writer. However, the user is likely toremember where he or she saw or heard the information or the nature ofthe event that he or she was watching or listening at the time.Therefore, as block 40 indicates, a database is created for these usersto search for web site addresses identified via media channels,utilizing what the users can recall to search for web site addressesthat they do not remember.

[0013] The database is created by soliciting the advertisers and mediachannel operators for web site addresses identified via the mediachannel and for information associated with the media identification ofthe web site addresses. In other words, both the web site addresses andtheir corresponding “identifiers” are collected and compiled into thedatabase. For example, if a web site address were broadcast over theradio, a list of identifiers would be solicited from the radio station,the web site owner or, if the broadcast were an advertisement, theadvertising agency. Preferably, the identifiers include the location orcity where the listener was located, the subject matter that caught theinterest of the listener (e.g., pistachio nuts), the time of day the website address was broadcast, the date on which the web site address wasbroadcast, the identifying call-letters for the station on which the website address was broadcast, the frequency of the radio station on whichthe web site address was broadcast, any products associated with thebroadcast web site address that were also broadcast, any servicesassociated with the identified web site address that were alsobroadcast, and the name of the disc jockey or any celebrity orpersonality involved when the web site address was broadcast.

[0014] Similarly, for a web site address broadcast on television, theidentifiers to be solicited preferably include the location or citywhere the listener was located, the subject matter that caught theinterest of the listener, the time of day the web site address wasbroadcast, the date on which the web site address was broadcast, theidentifying call-letters for the television station on which the website address was broadcast, the identifying channel number for thestation on which the web site address was broadcast, any productsassociated with the identified web site address that were alsobroadcast, any services associated with the identified web site addressthat were also broadcast, the name of the television show, and anycelebrities or personalities involved when the web site address wasbroadcast.

[0015] For airline video and audio broadcasts, the identifiers to besolicited preferably include the video/audio name, the subject matterthat caught the interest of the listener, the departure time of theflight on which a web site address was broadcast, the name of thedeparture city and state for the flight on which the web site addresswas broadcast, the arrival time of the flight on which the web siteaddress was broadcast, the name of the arrival city and state for theflight on which the web site address was broadcast, the date of theflight on which the web site address was broadcast, the name of theairline of the flight on which the web site address was broadcast, theflight number of the flight on which the web site address was broadcast,any products associated with the identified web site address that werealso broadcast, any services associated with the identified web siteaddress that were also broadcast, and any celebrities or personalitiesassociated with the identified web site address.

[0016] For a web site advertised on a billboard, the identifiers to besolicited preferably include the subject matter that caught the interestof the listener, the location of the billboard on which the web siteaddress was advertised (e.g., the name of the city and street where thebillboard was located and the name of the nearest cross street, or thename of the highway off of which the billboard was located and the nameof the nearest highway exit etc.), any products associated with theadvertised web site address that were also advertised, and any servicesassociated with the advertised web site address that were alsoadvertised on the billboard.

[0017] For a web site address identified in a printed publication, theidentifiers to be solicited preferably include the name of the citywhere the publication was obtained, the name of the printed publicationin which the web site address was identified, the issue date or numberof the publication in which the web site address was identified, thevolume number of the publication in which the web site address wasidentified, the title of the section of the publication in which the website address was identified, the page number of the publication in whichthe web site address was identified, the title of an article in thepublication in which the web site address was identified, any productsassociated with the identified web site address that were alsoidentified, and any services associated with the identified web siteaddress that were also identified in the publication.

[0018] Preferably, the compilation of the database is a do-it-yourselfprocess. That is, each and every information provider is preferablygiven access to a portion of the database for uploading the informationsolicited and/or any other information the information provider deemsrelevant, such as information on a product or service, or informationabout the web site or its owner. The information uploading or collectionis preferably processed in an organized manner (i.e., identical for eachinformation provider) such that all information can be retrieved quicklyand accurately. In other words, the database is preferably passwordprotected, and each and every information provider is given a passwordto essentially create a protected sub-database within the databaseaccessible only by inputting the corresponding password. Preferably, thecontent of the sub-database can be updated or edited electronically byusing the same password. For example, a radio station may use a passwordgiven to the station to create a sub-database containing all of the website addresses featured or advertised on the radio for a given week. Thesub-database may also include hyperlinks to the advertised or featuredweb sites. The radio station may decide to update the content of thesub-database daily or weekly by adding new web site addresses. The radiostation may choose to keep any input web site addresses in thesub-database for a longer period of time, say a year, and createdifferent lists of web site addresses for different weeks, all includedin the sub-database. Therefore, the compilation of the database iscontinuous and may be real-time.

[0019] Still referring to FIG. 1, as block 40 shows, a user can searchthe database for a web site address identified via a media channel byinputting at least one identifier in the search query. Preferably,different identifier questionnaires or categories are provided on thequery page to help a user conduct a directed or guided search. Anexample of such a directed search is illustrated in FIG. 2, which willbe discussed in detail below. Referring again to FIG. 1, after at leastone identifier is input and the search command is executed, the databasechecks its content for the identifier input, as shown at decision block50. If the input matches an identifier stored in the database, thedatabase provides the user a search result containing the web siteaddress associated with the identifier, as block 60 illustrates.Occasionally, an identifier may be associated with more than one website address. In that case, every web site that is associated with theidentifier would be provided in the search result, and, preferably, theuser would be asked to fine-tune his or her search by inputting at leastone more identifier.

[0020] For example, suppose the web site bn.com was advertised on theradio station KBIG, FM 101.3, at 7:00 PM on May 5, 2000 in the SanFrancisco Bay Area, and the advertisement was about the various booksone can purchase online at bn.com. Suppose a user cannot recall the website address “www.bn.com.” The user may search in the radio section ofthe database for the web site address, as shown in FIG. 2, whichillustrates a preferred format for a search query comprising a pluralityof guiding questionnaires and a search execution button 80. Preferably,the user begins his or her search by typing in at least one identifieror answer to a questionnaire. In the instant example, the user may typein “San Francisco” in line 1 after the search field “City in which youwere located”; “19:00” or “7:00 PM” in line 4 after the search field“Time of Day the web site address was broadcast”; “May 5, 2000” in line5, after the search field “Date on which the web site address wasbroadcast”; “KBIG” in line 6, after the search field “Call-letters ofthe radio station”; “FM” in line 7, after the search field “AM or FM”;and “101.3” in line 8, after the search field “Frequency of the radiostation”. After the search command is executed by electronicallypressing the search button 80, the database checks its content for thefive identifiers entered. Because the identifiers match those stored inthe database for bn.com, the address “www.bn.com” and other relevantinformation will be provided in the search result. A hyperlink to bn.comis preferably provided, and the user may click on the hyperlink to reachthe bn.com web site.

[0021] Now, suppose the web site etoys.com was also advertised on thesame radio station in the same commercial time slot, on the same date,and the advertisement was about the web site's toy selection. The aboveidentifiers entered would have retrieved both “www.bn.com” and“www.etoys.com” because all of the five identifiers entered above areassociated with each one of these two web sites. Because there are onlytwo items in the search result, the user may simply scroll up and downthe search result page and choose the correct web site, www.bn.com.However, if numerous items were retrieved, the user may wish tofine-tune his or her search request. The user has the option to go backto the query page and provide more information to fine-tune the searchparameter. In the instant example, the user may type in a sixthidentifier, “books”, in line 3, after the search field “Subject matterwhich caught your interest” or in line 10, after the search field “Nameof a product or type of products associated with the web site address.”Because only the bn.com advertisement was about books, the only web siteaddress included in the search result would be www.bn.com.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the databasecomprises a search query page for each media channel. FIG. 2 illustratessuch a search query page for radio broadcasts. In another preferredembodiment, the database comprises one query page for all of the mediachannels, and the search fields comprise all of the identifiercategories. In yet another preferred embodiment, the database comprisesa plurality of query pages, one query page for a number of similar mediachannels. For example, the database may include one query page fortelevision and radio broadcasts, and another for billboards and printedpublications.

[0023] Preferably, the database uses Cold Fusion or a similar searchengine software to execute searches. Preferably, the database is storedon a web site accessible via the Internet. Three preferable web siteaddresses for the database are www.eAdLocator.com,www.WhereDidIHearThat.com and www.WhereDidISeeThat.com. As the web sitenames suggest, a user may access these web sites to search for a website address the user “heard”or “saw,” but could not remember the website address. Preferably, therefore, a user would searchwww.WhereDidIHearThat.com for a web site address identified via radio,TV audio broadcast, and the like; and the user would searchwww.WhereDidISeeThat.com for a web site address identified on abillboard, TV, airline video broadcast, in a printed publication, orsimilar media channels.

[0024] Although the invention herein has been described with referenceto particular embodiments, it is to be understood that the embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and application of the presentinvention. It is therefore to be understood that various modificationsmay be made to the above mentioned embodiments and that otherarrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing directed search for a website address advertised in a printed publication, the method comprising:creating a database containing one or more web site identifiers input byan advertiser associated with the advertisement of the web site addressin the printed publication; permitting a user to search the database byinputting at least one of the web site identifiers; and providing to theuser a search response including one or more web site addressesadvertised in the printed publication, wherein the one or more web siteidentifiers include at least one member of the group consisting of: nameof the printed publication; an identification of an issue selected fromthe group consisting of a number, a date, a particular month and year, aparticular year, and any other particular time period in accordance withthe publishing frequency of the printed publication; and a product orservice associated with the web site address advertised on the airplane.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the search response further includesinformation related to a web site associated with the web site addressadvertised in the printed publication.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe one or more web site identifiers further include at least one memberof the group consisting of: a subject matter of interest associated withthe web site address advertised in the printed publication; a title orname of a particular section of the printed publication in which the website address may have been advertised; a title of an article of theprinted publication in which the web site address may have beenadvertised; a page number or a range of page numbers of the printedpublication in which the web site address may have been advertised; aname of a city where the printed publication may have been obtained; anda name of a host, celebrity or personality associated with theadvertisement of the web site address in the printed publication.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the database is password protected.
 5. Amethod for creating a directed search database of web sites advertisedin a printed publication, comprising: providing each of a plurality ofinformation providers access to a secured portion of the database;providing each information provider one or more identifier categories;allowing each information provider to store in the secured portion ofthe database one or more identifiers associated with a web sitebroadcast on the airplane, each identifier corresponding to anidentifier category; and creating a search query with the one or moreidentifier categories, wherein the one or more web site identifiersinclude at least one member of the group consisting of: name of theprinted publication; an identification of an issue selected from thegroup consisting of a number, a date, a particular month and year, aparticular year, and any other particular time period in accordance withthe publishing frequency of the printed publication; and a product orservice associated with the web site address advertised on the airplane,and wherein a user searches the database by inputting at least oneidentifier in the search query, and a search result including a web siteassociated with the input identifier is provided when the search queryis executed.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the secured portion ofthe database is protected by a password.
 7. The method of claim 5,further comprising allowing each information provider to store in thesecured portion of the database non-identifier information relating tothe web site.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or moreidentifiers further include at least one member of the group consistingof: a subject matter of interest associated with the web site addressadvertised in the printed publication; a title or name of a particularsection of the printed publication in which the web site address mayhave been advertised; a title of an article of the printed publicationin which the web site address may have been advertised; a page number ora range of page numbers of the printed publication in which the web siteaddress may have been advertised; a name of a city where the printedpublication may have been obtained; and a name of a host, celebrity orpersonality associated with the advertisement of the web site address inthe printed publication.